1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to packages for surgical sutures and more particularly to a package for retaining a plurality of surgical sutures in a manner for ready removal.
2. Description of Related Art
Retainer packages for surgical sutures are well known in the art. In the past, surgical sutures have been wound on reels disposed within packaging enclosures for ready removal. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,608 which issued to Berger, describes a retainer package having a plurality of identical cylindrical suture reels stacked within a recess formed in a packaging enclosure. Each of the cylindrical suture reels has an annular groove formed therein for receiving a surgical suture. However, the depth of the annular groove on each of the cylindrical suture reels is identical. Consequently, upon stacking the cylindrical suture reels within their housing, the combined thickness results in a relatively large package being required for accommodating a plurality of suture reels. Additionally, by forming the cylindrical suture reels in this manner, the area which lies radially inward of the annular groove remains unoccupied once loaded, and thus results in an inefficient use of space. Furthermore, since the annular groove in each of the suture reels is aligned and parallel to the annular grooves in adjacent retainer reels, there may be a tendency for sutures to become entangled with one another as they are unwound from their respective suture reels.
Accordingly, it is an object of the subject invention to provide a retainer package for housing a plurality of concentrically stacked suture retainer reels being formed in such a manner so as to make more efficient use of the thickness of the retainer package in which they are housed.
It is another object of the subject invention to provide a retainer package for housing a plurality of concentrically stacked suture retainer reels, which reels decrease the likelihood of sutures becoming tangled with one another upon being removed from the package.
It is yet another object of the subject invention to provide a lightweight and inexpensive suture retainer package for efficiently housing a plurality of surgical sutures.
These and other objects of the subject invention will be made more apparent from the following description thereof.